Tag: business

I have been in a mental slump. Not a creative slump but I felt as though things weren’t moving as well as I would like them to be and no matter what someone tell you, you are the worst critic.

Sometimes life happens I get that, but in retrospect, it always does. Life doesn’t stop or give you a break because you can’t take it. No life is really crappy and hard and being an adult with constant worry and responsibility is all part of the fun. But how we decide to embrace those life challenges and how we react to it will either stop you or fuel you to carry on.

For my well being I needed to get away for a while to gauge things and reset. So, back in November I went to the UK to clear my head, meet some old friends and ultimately get some perspective about my life and the direction I wanted it to go.

It was an amazing experience, and if you have never gone alone on a trip I advise it highly. It shakes your core and wakes you up! And the wonderful thing about going alone is that you don’t have to wait for anyone and if you want to go somewhere you can! lol

While there I explored and thought long and hard about all I had done everything I wanted to do so far with my own personal goals and ambitions. But I also realized that I was not challenging myself in the correct manner.

What do I mean? well I put my self in constant states of stress adding more and more projects to keep my head spinning, but what was I doing to grow creatively on a personal level?

We all are looking for that almighty dollar yes, but what are we doing to help that on our own scale of things? Are we improving our craft? or are we simply regurgitating what we already know and can do well?

If you are good at what you do then why change it? It’s not about changing it. More like it is a continual flex and practice so that you can make it better!

So I decided that no matter how busy I get I will always make time to challenge myself daily to improve.

Whether it is sketching once a day for yourself or writing a poem or page in your book or walking everyday etc. It is about fine tuning the you to make a better version of yourself.

We can easily get lost with work and responsibilities. But it is also our job to maintain our core so that we always shine bright even when the world isn’t.

You will be happier and the ones you love will see it and feel that too. SO what you do as a personal challenge for yourself will make you better and keep the creative juices flowing and flexing that ever present muscle.

I often get ideas for various artworks and such but rarely do I get the opportunity to follow through, just because my other work obligations tends to demand a lot of my time.

I however decided to put one concept idea into reality mainly because I found it challenging and wanted to see the extent of my idea and where I wanted to go with it.

Creativity has no limits so I embarked on what was only a small idea and it grew from there. Not sure if I will do anything with this now but I did thoroughly enjoy the process that I am starting to look into working on upgrading my skills and knowledge into concept art and all that it entails.

It may seem on the surface easy enough, but trust me when I say it really isn’t.

Concept art is used to visualize ideas and bring not only the character but the whole idea behind the character. The environment in which it resides its vehicles and other essentials behind it.

Not only are you giving this visual idea but also you have to be quite detailed. What weapons will they use how will it move, what will take place. What are the characters personality features, can you do multiple views of the same character, front, back, side etc. Some may even want to see what it would look like jumping or other positions to really get a handle on how the character moves.

Learning these things and creating the character in different positions with the massive attention to detail will get you noticed.

What education do you need? Well when it comes down to it, its all about what you can produce. So if you have a university degree or you are self taught its all on what you can present.

Practice is essential and skill will come from the more of it you do and learn. I have been lucky so far because as a illustrator for children’s books you have to be able to make the same character move in various positions.

So one of the greatest skills to have is the ability to do atomically correct characters in any position. So I would start off by practicing. It’s a very competitive business to get into and there are some fantastic artists out there but remember not everyone has your style either, so don’t get discouraged!

Put your artwork on places like Behance and Artstation and more to get people to notice you and your abilities, the more places you have your art the better the opportunity arises to get noticed and get a chance to work with a company who appreciates what you have to offer!

Whether you are starting to feel the grind of the holidays starting to rise or not as an artist its always a good idea to be prepared. How can we get ready for the busy season and juggle the Christmas orders along with our own personal work?

Time is key! yes time. Time is an essential balance of what is priority and what is not. If you time how long a painting takes, for example a pet portrait painting you can make an allowance of that amount and etc. This will help to get the projects done and allow for scheduling of multiple orders. Take for an example a painting that is larger will take more time than a smaller one, or multiple pets in one painting will take much longer as well so allow extra time for those projects.

Another idea is to always inform your customer of how long of a wait they are looking at and in what order they are. So if they are anxious you can simply tell them when they are going to be able to get it and if you have the time to complete it before the rush and when they will be the next one to have an order completed.

I usually inform everyone on my Facebook page to please order early as time slots fill up quickly well before the season starts.

Remember too that if you have another job to include also a space for yourself as it will get to the point that if you don’t you will burn out and then you wont be able to do the work you promised which reflects badly.

Always remember that a lot of business is generated through word of mouth so make sure your character is intact to get the most out of this holiday season. I have already started to work on my Christmas orders and am thankful for my customers for being considerate and realize that it does take time to complete the paintings.

As entrepreneurs you must always look for ways in which to sell your talents. I suggest you share with friends and family to start and eventually those friends of friends will share and word will start to spread so that you become known for it and people will seek you out. This is a work in progress type of deal, no quick way to get more customers. It is all in how often you can produce the paintings for others to see and how well you do it.

Remember that there are so many styles of paintings so don’t ever be discouraged, someone will love your style! There is plenty of work for everyone.

Don’t ever give up. I started out with one or two paintings here and there and now I have to make a schedule because I have people asking that I don’t know. Which is nice, once you are known around as an artist you will find lots of interesting projects will find their way to you!

Time is not the enemy, make a schedule and stick to it. Things will go so much smoother if you do. Cheers!

Drum roll please… Well I did another book despite having little to no time! I am very grateful to my traditional Publisher for picking this up!

People often ask me what the differences is between publishers, when I say traditional it means I do not pay to have my book published. The publisher picks it up meaning they do all the work! I wrote it and illustrated it and that’s where it ends, and I love that fact. Newer Publishers expect you to fork out money for your book. SO a tip for all you aspiring authors, try and find a traditional publisher, its cheaper and yes they get some of the profits but remember they are forking out the money in the first place so if you don’t have thousands of dollars to publish a book this is the best way to do it.

Back to my children’s book, This book was inspired by a funny story about a lady who wore a yellow full snowsuit and everyone called her a banana, but it looked really good on her… so I used my imagination to branch off of that. Its funny where the original ideas come from and the story isn’t anything like the concept.

That’s the wonderful thing about having a wild imagination, you never know what will come of it. I hope you all find this book hilarious and share with your friends. Kids will probably (if they haven’t already) start calling there grandma nana banana for a while too, its funny and silly so hopefully they won’t mind.

The story itself set in the city and nanny gets her costume stuck so she has no choice but to walk around town wearing it. You can only imagine the issues she has come about with that!

Go check it out on Amazon! <<< rub on the word Amazon to take you directly!

Ok so I know this is out of the ordinary for My Art site but, I have to share things that I know people would want and it could help them. SO that being said, how would you like to lose weight by simply drinking a cup a day of coffee?

I am not joking and this is not a typo.

BEFORE AFTER

Ok so in literally 2 weeks I have lost weight, to the point where my face is thinner and my clothes are loose!!! AND the greatest part about it is that it isn’t full of chemicals! It is safe to use and helps curb cravings! Drink coffee with lots of water through out the day and within a week or two you will see massive results!! If however you don’t you can get your money back! And that I like because if a product isn’t what its cracked up to be we as the consumer should be able to.

Valentus slim roast coffee is an amazing product my friend told me about and her friends have lost weight too!! I will be showing progress in the next few weeks to show you more before and after photos of myself to prove its effective. I have ordered my second bottle because I truly believe in this product and you will too once you get going on it. I have never been more impressed : Formulated with natural appetite suppressants, feel good ingredients and detox components and powered by VASO6™ a Nitric Oxide, Antioxidant Booster for Optimum Circulation & Oxygen delivery. SlimROAST Optimum is the perfect addition to your weight loss management program!
​Along with healthy eating and drinking water this will excel your plans to become a healthier you!!! This is my art website and I know this has nothing to do with art but COME ON this is amazing!!!

In todays world there is so much attention to social media and needed to fulfill a persona. It is daunting and stressful. Instead of enjoying moments or the process we are taking photos of things to post for the world to see.

Even as artists on Instagram we are compelled to constantly upkeep our art page for fear of losing followers. Which happens anyway lets face it. If you aren’t posting a couple of times a day your going to drop followers, so you opt to buy automatic posts. A little less stressful but still needs upkeep.

I think the whole point of being on social media is lost with the lack of engagement and real conversations. We don’t build actual relationships with our customers and lasting bonds to create a true fan and business attraction. I mean take twitter for example, how many people actually check the inbox of those new followers who have preprogrammed them to message you once you follow? Its spam and no one likes it. So if there was any it is lost in the mix of all the hiccups of technology. We rely on likes or hearts, retweets to get there fans to like it to validate what we are doing. Does this get you a sale? Does anyone see what you are trying to accomplish? it does give you exposure this is true but Lets put it into perspective.

Instagram now has over 700 million users, and 250 million users use Instagram Stories every day. In total, Instagram’s added more than 200 million users to its platform in under a year, with 100 million of the newcomers signing on between December and the end of April. WOW right?

SO does what we do have much impact? If hashtags are used correctly it can be somewhat effective but again its very short lived. You have seconds for someone to see what you post until they scroll to the next image. Just like Twitter, lets put that into perspective.

According to the last statistics, twitter has 554,750,000 users in the world and this number is being continued in each minute. The number of twitter users signing up every day is 135,000; every month about 190 million people are visiting twitter.

How do we go backwards in this ever changing tech world? For those of you who are older who have seen all the changes and followed suit reluctantly you know what I mean. Everyone’s head is pointed down on there phone, headphones in no communication to the people standing right in front of you.

I am included in the mix. When do we unplug? I am so connected to my customers and boss and my online shop that I have become morphed into a walking electronic always no matter what time of day or night engaging with clients, answering questions. When do I sleep, when do I shut down and recharge.

When you realize that no matter what those clients will be there when you get up and that this is vital to disconnect from it for your mental health and well being you will start to set time to prioritize this to keep you fresh and mentally healthy hopefully before you have a meltdown from the stress of it all.

Also when you don’t always feel the need to be ON all the time you will start to get more and more perspective as to what is important. Those moments don’t always need to be photographed.

Those validations are not so important anymore. If you are genuine and you have a craft that takes time and you love what you do then people will see this and you will gain real followers who love your creativity.

Lets not forget the Ladies and Gentlemen who post half naked pics on twitter and Instagram and what ever other social media these people have to show themselves for self gratification; I am going to address this as well.

You don’t always have to be on posting photos of your body because whom ever loves you will not make you feel like you have to get that kind of positive or negative attention on social media. And somethings should be secret and sacred to just your partner. WE don’t need to see every curve and every muscle that’s meant for your partner. Leave something to the imagination. Its classier and you attract real meaningful relationships not social fake media ones that lack respect and dignity from these random people whom ultimately don’t matter. And how are you to trust someone who does this constantly that says they love you for others to view you in your birthday suit? ask yourself that.

Getting down to how to uplug, here is a few things one can do to reconnect with yourself without tech interference.

read a book ( not on your phone)

meditate, 20 mins a day does wonders

take a walk and leave the phone at home

Have a party with family and friends ( no phones allowed)

Exercise

listen to music

DO something creative, write, paint etc..

I am sure there are more, feel free to add some in the comments section! I would love to hear from you!!!

Drum roll please!!! I am so excited to present to you my Children’s book Published by Pen it! Publications, LLC!! This has been a long time coming. I am so grateful and humbled to see my book in my hands. I have been illustrating now for awhile and I got the writing bug to do my own children’s story.

I always wanted to create my own, but I had no idea what to write about. I was determined to become published this year, it was a goal of mine. I got it into my head that it was possible and so I put it out there and let it go.

I was hanging out with my friend one day and we kept running around to try and get stuff done and we had forgotten something. We burst out laughing and said ‘ its one of those days!’ I joked and said you know this would make a funny book and my friend looked at me and said yes it would.

Funny how things like this have a tendency to just come out of nowhere. I sat down to write it and it flowed!

That’s the amazing thing when its meant to be, its spontaneous and that’s usually when its your best work because you aren’t overthinking it to death. Because believe me I was trying to think of something unusual and it wasn’t happening, but the second I forgot about it and relaxed that it would eventually find its way to me BOOM there it was!!

Like a lightning bolt, I saw the cover and how I wanted it to look. And here it is!!! My first very own Illustrated and written book. There will be more now I assure you, but they will all be different. Because I never do things the same as everyone else!

Please take the time to enjoy this book with your kids, this is about single moms doing it all for there kids and even though we forget we have fun along the way!

Copy and Paste this link to get a copy of your very own on Amazon.com 🙂 ❤

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Lizy J Campbell

Home site: https://lizywhothefunk.blog/
Home grown from Ontario Canada, a city girl. Just an ordinary girl with a dream and a plan.
Always had a sense of style and clarity looking beyond the city life. As a child, a sponge absorbing the world and all in it, I then became a mother of two.
I realized that life is too short not to want to be all the things you dream of. Because of it, I have now decided that nothing is more important than being who you are and loving yourself and all that you do. Discovering things all over through child’s eyes and wonder on my own, I am reborn again and refreshed. Eat breathe sleep art. Kids are inspiring me to discover the new and unchanged part of the creative me now morphing into Lizzywhothefunkc.
Pushing to the limits and thinking outside the boundaries of art. Lost in color, lost in paint, lost in me. No one can tell you not to live a dream no one can tell you to put the paint brush on your self-worth down and be someone who reflects only another. Be free, be whom you want to be, most of all be happy. I am and never have been happier than I am right now the present moment.
Don’t ever let go of what you think will bring out your soul. A fire has been lit within and I will never put it out again. Headphones on world out, this funky lady is Dj for her own life song.
https://www.twine.fm/Lizzywhothefunkc